Evaluation of Serum and Gene Expression of Galectin-4, Interleukin-27, and Complement-7 in Hepatitis C Virus-Infected Egyptian Patients

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is considered a major global public health problem. Recently, there are great advances in HCV therapy, but there are some limitations that are creating an urgent need for assessment of some cytokines that have a potent antiviral effect in the immune system and anti-inflammatory effects to provide a potential novel immunotherapeutic target in HCV infection. OBJECTIVE: This study was directed to assess the serum levels and gene expression levels of Galectin-4 (LEG4), Interleukin-27 (IL-27), and Complement-7 (C-7) and their correlation with the viral load in HCV infection. Subjects and Methods. This work was conducted on 80 subjects, Group 1 (n = 40) early detected HCV patients and Group 2 (n = 40) healthy controls. LEG4, IL-27, and C-7 were assessed at the protein levels by ELISA, and their gene expression was assessed by RT-qPCR. The viral load was measured by PCR. RESULTS: There were significant elevations in the mean levels of gene expression and serum levels of all studied parameters LEG4, IL-27, and C-7 in the HCV group compared to the control group. Significant negative correlations between the viral load and each of the serum proteins and gene expressions of both LEG4 and IL-27 in HCV patients were found. The gene expression levels of LEG4, IL-27, and C-7 were positively correlated with their corresponding serum proteins in HCV patients. CONCLUSION: LEG4 and IL-27 showed significant negative correlations with the viral load, which could be an immune response to the control of the extent of hepatic inflammation, thus creating a potential novel immunotherapeutic approach in HCV infection for further studies or therapeutic clinical trials.